Southern California -- this just in

The Carrier Classic, a basketball game played aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson docked in San Diego, appears ready to go despite earlier concerns about rain.

The video below offers a time-lapse view of the extensive preparations needed to turn the aircraft carrier into a basketball arena. Fox 5 San Diego reported that because of weather concerns, officials said an alternative court inside a hangar was also built, but it probably won't be needed.

"This venue is absolutely stunning and spectacular,'' Bob Mazza of Morale Entertainment, which organized the event, told the station.

Michigan State and North Carolina will square off at 4 p.m. and President Obama will be in the stands. And Magic Johnson and James Worthy will serve as honorary captains.

The transformation of the aircraft carrier started Wednesday when the same basketball court that was used for the 2011 NCAA national championship game was lifted by crane more than 14 stories and laid piece by piece, until all 258 squares snapped together.

About 7,000 seats were brought in to form an arena and the two basketball stanchions were put in place, according to The Times' Diane Pucin.

Photo: North Carolina players practice on the basketball court aboard the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. The ship's deck will be the venue for a game between Michigan State University and the University of North Carolina on Veterans Day . Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times